by Lane Mason
“I doubt that is the case, but no point dwelling on it. You’ll know more when you speak to her again. In the meantime, we have about a twenty-minute drive, and you are in charge of the radio.”
“I thought you’d never ask.” Kat pulled out her phone and paired it to the Bluetooth and then started scrolling through her playlists. “What does an old geezer vampire listen to, anyway?”
Thomas chuckled. “I’m hardly an old geezer. Well, not for a vampire. I enjoy most modern music. While driving, I prefer not to listen to any heavy metal or sad country.”
“Sad country?”
“You know... the ‘my wife left me, my dog died and I just lost my job stuff’ that will put me to sleep.”
“Got it,” Kat said. She put on one of her more eclectic rock mixes. She had a pretty wide range of music on her playlists, but they weren’t going to really have time to listen to much of it. They would be at their destination within five or six songs, so there wasn’t much point overthinking the list.
“Is that Royal Blood?” Thomas asked.
“Yes, you know them?”
“I do. You should make them your theme music.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “My theme music?”
“Yes, you being royal draia blood, and the song ‘How Did We Get So Dark.’ Come on, Kat, admit it. It fits.”
Kat laughed. “I never thought of that. I suppose I’m still getting used to the idea of being ‘royal blood.’ I’m still the girl who grew up in foster homes and on the streets. As for having a theme song based on song titles, I’d go with ‘Little Monster’ or ‘She’s Creeping.’”
“Little Monster, without a doubt. Even the lyrics are perfect.”
“There you go. My theme music,” Kat said with a smile. During her career as a fighter she’d always liked having intro music before her matches. The walk to the ring was easier when she could lose herself in the lyrics. Perhaps she’d have to make a pre-battle playlist.
“What are you thinking? You have an evil yet content look on your face.”
“I was thinking that I really should make a playlist for fights.”
“Dark Horror, Trip Hop, whatever the kids are listening to these days.”
Kat froze for a second. She almost missed the movie reference, but she quickly recovered. “Me, I’m more of a David Hasselhoff fan.”
Thomas sighed. “One of these days I’m going to catch you off-guard and slip a movie reference by you.”
“Probably, but not as long as you keep using good movies.”
“You consider that a good movie?”
Kat punched him in the shoulder. “It’s a classic. I love vampire-hunter movies. Besides, Ryan Reynolds is yummy.”
Thomas shrugged. “I suppose.” He then looked in the rearview mirror. “You’ll have to work on your playlist later. I think we’re being followed.”
Kat looked out the passenger-side mirror. “Which car?”
“Blue Explorer, four cars back. Could be nothing, but they’ve been there for a while now.”
“How close are we to the safe house?”
“Only a couple of blocks.”
If the Explorer was tailing them, they couldn’t lead them to the safe house and the witness. “What do you want to do?”
Thomas slowed down and turned down a side street. “We’ll go on a little detour. But I’m worried that they might already know the location of the safe house.”
“Wouldn’t they have attacked it already?”
“Not if they were waiting for confirmation that they had the right one. The feds have several safe houses in Vegas. If they had a list but weren’t sure which one to attack...”
“They’d wait and watch until someone that looks like a fed came to the house. We certainly look like government, driving a black Suburban.” Kat missed her Dodge Demon. It certainly didn’t look like a government vehicle.
“Well, they turned. They’re definitely following us.”
“We could try leading them away from the safe house, but if you’re right and the location was compromised, then there may be more than just one vehicle.”
Thomas pulled out his phone. He turned on the Bluetooth speaker so Kat could hear the conversation.
“Agent St. Gerard. What’s going on?”
“Agent Deckard, we’re almost to the safe house but we picked up a tail.”
“I see. What do you want to do?”
“Is there any activity on your street?”
“Hold on,” Agent Deckard said. There was a long pause before he replied again. “The street looks empty. Wait, a gray cargo van just pulled over about six houses down, but no one is getting out. I think they know we’re here.”
“Keep your team inside, we’ll be there in two minutes.” Thomas hit the gas. “Stay on the line and tell me if they leave the van.”
“Copy that,” Agent Deckard said.
As they accelerated down the street, Kat kept her eye on the mirror. The blue Explorer was accelerating as well. “They aren’t being subtle anymore.”
“Nope, but it doesn’t matter anymore. We just have to make sure they don’t get our witness.”
Thomas took a hard right and Kat swore the big SUV’s tires came off the road. “Thirty seconds out. Look for the van.”
“There,” Kat said as she spotted the van.
Thomas slowed down. “They’re on the far side of the street. Good, we can drive right to the safe house. But we’ll be pinned in.”
“We’ll take care of the bad guys first, then worry about getting your prisoner to the court,” Kat said. “When you pull into the driveway, I’m going to get out and walk over towards the van. What have you got for weapons in here?”
“There’s an assault rifle in the back. And the agents in the house are heavily armed.”
Kat frowned. Right about now she wanted the shotgun she’d gotten from Gerald. They had lots of firepower, that wouldn’t be a problem, but it was a residential neighborhood. Not a great place for a firefight. “OK. I’m going to go chat with our friends in the van. Keep an eye on the Explorer.”
“Be careful, Kat.”
Kat opened the SUV door and stepped out even though it was still moving. She walked straight across the road until she was standing in the middle of it. She looked back at the way they’d come. The blue Explorer was there and it slowed to a stop at the end of the lane. Kat ignored the Explorer and started walking towards the van. A man got out of the van and stood in the middle of the road.
“Give us our man and there won’t be any problems.”
Kat scratched her head. “Man? What man? We certainly don’t have your man. Are you sure you’re in the right neighborhood?”
The man shook his head. “Enough with the word games. You have Elmer Jobin and we want him. Nobody has to get hurt. Just give us your prisoner.”
“Elmer? You want Elmer? Why didn’t you just say so? By the way, orcs aren’t technically men. I mean, sure, he’s a male, but is a male orc a man? I think that is where the confusion came from.”
The man sighed. “Are you going to give him to us or not?”
“Not.”
“I see.”
Kat walked closer. “But I am willing to make you a one-time deal. If you just jump into your creeper van and turn around and leave, I won’t arrest you.”
“That isn’t going to happen. Last chance, draia. Give us Elmer before you get hurt.”
“You know I have a name, right? It really is hurtful to talk to me like that. I don’t go around calling you human.”
“Enough of this babble,” the man said. He pointed to the truck and then at Kat.
The van started to rock back and forth, and then the back door opened. A huge man-beast walked out and started heading towards Kat.
The man-beast looked like an ogre crossed with something even bigger and uglier.
“How the hell did you fit Big Ugly in your van?” Kat asked the first man, who was now waving his hands around, conjuring some sort
of spell.
“It was a tight fit.”
“I hope you used lube,” Kat said.
Big Ugly started running towards her. For a second it reminded Kat of the time she’d faced Big Bertha, except instead of a freakishly large and powerful woman it was a freakishly large paranormal man-beast that was moving far faster than she’d thought possible. Great, Kat thought. The massive monster with muscles on top of his muscles also moves like a mountain lion. I’m so screwed.
Kat threw her hand forward and watched her silver thread fly out and circle the man-beast’s legs, but then the mage released the spell he’d been conjuring and the thread burst into flames and disappeared.
“Not today, draia,” the mage said with a smirk.
Kat was about to flip him the bird when Big Ugly hit her.
The blow sent her flying backwards. It felt like she’d been hit by a two-by-four, or a young, angry Mike Tyson. She had bells ringing in her head, and Big Ugly was still coming forward.
Kat scrambled backwards as the man-beast tried to stomp on her. It then swiped at her with its right hand, which was as ugly and powerful looking as the rest of the creature. It had three fingers and a thumb, each easily three times the size of a normal finger and as thick as her wrist with a gnarly-looking claw on the end of each digit. The claws caught the front of her shirt and sliced it open with ease.
A fireball from the mage smashed into the ground right where she’d been a second before.
Behind her, Kat could hear shouting and gunfire, but she was too preoccupied with the mage and man-beast combo to worry about whatever was going on behind her. She trusted Thomas to take care of it. Right now, she had enough to deal with on her own.
Scrambling to her feet, Kat dodged a fireball and then twisted sideways to avoid another swipe of Big Ugly’s claws. She moved sideways so that Big Ugly was between her and the mage, and then pulled her gun. She kept dodging and weaving to avoid the attacks of Big Ugly and waited for an opening to attack the mage. Finally, she was able to get a shot off at the mage.
He didn’t see it coming. The mage dropped like a rock. He’d been so busy trying to hit her with fireballs that he hadn’t even bothered with a magical shield.
Kat ducked under another swipe from Big Ugly before spinning into a back kick. The kick caught Big Ugly on the jaw and sent him sprawling backwards trying to regain his balance. Kat took the opportunity to shoot him, unloading her clip into his head.
Big Ugly slumped to the ground.
Kat spotted a fireball coming towards her and raised her magic ward just in time. The fireball smashed into her but didn’t burn her. She’d just gotten her ward up in the nick of time. She looked over to see the mage she’d shot pulling a bullet from his body armor. No wonder he hadn’t bothered with a magical shield. The bastard was wearing bulletproof body armor.
The mage was starting to cast another spell. Kat ran towards him, pushing her magical energy into her ward as she ran. The mage launched another blast of fire, this time more like a flame thrower instead of a single ball of fire.
Ignoring the heat around her, Kat kept running towards the mage until he was right in front of her. She swung her arm in a sweeping arch down until the butt of her gun crashed into the mage’s skull.
The mage dropped as his skull made a loud crunching noise.
Kat turned towards the safe house. Thomas was fighting with a werewolf, while the remaining agent from the safe house was pinned down by fire from two more men. Kat reloaded her gun with the silver and wood bullets, hoping there were no demons in the fight, as she ran towards the safe house. There was a good chance that the two men shooting at the house were also werewolves and hadn’t changed yet.
As she grew closer, one of the attackers firing on the house noticed her and turned to shoot at her.
Kat fired as she ran. Her aim was slightly off. Her first shot caught him in the shoulder.
The man didn’t fall back, he just growled. Kat watched as the man dropped his gun and started running towards her. He shifted into a werewolf as he ran.
The transformation was fast. Kat watched in fascination as his body rapidly morphed into wolf form. Once she got over her curiosity about the change, she remembered they were in the middle of a fight. She fired into the charging werewolf twice more before they collided together.
The werewolf was strong. The collision was like being tackled by a linebacker. The werewolf wasn’t as big or as strong as something like Big Ugly, but man could he hit.
Kat elbowed the werewolf in the face and kicked him as he punched her. He had mount position and had wrapped his legs around her. This werewolf definitely had some MMA training. But what he’d forgotten was she was still holding her gun. She fired another pair of bullets into him, this time at closer range and directly into his ribcage, aimed at his heart.
Kat pushed the dying werewolf off her and got up. Thomas had disposed of the werewolf he was fighting and the remaining agent had taken down the last werewolf.
Thomas looked over at Kat. “You OK?”
Kat looked down at her shirt. It was ripped open and slightly charred. There were minor scratches across her chest, and her ribs weren’t feeling too good after being hit by Big Ugly and then the werewolf, but she hadn’t taken any significant wounds. She’d been lucky. “I’m fine. My tank top is ruined, though.”
“I don’t know. It looks fine to me,” Thomas said with a wink.
Kat shook her head. “What is it with men and boobs?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re genetically coded to appreciate them. Hardly our fault.”
Kat grunted. She couldn’t disagree with that. Besides, she appreciated a good set of tatas as much as any guy. Not that she’d admit that to Thomas. “What’s the damage?”
Thomas’s face darkened. “Two MBI agents down. Agent Jones was hit in the leg, and Agent Mallinson was hit in the chest. An emergency response team is on the way. We should take Mr. Jobin and head to the courthouse before anyone else decides to attack.”
“I’ll check the vehicles first. Make sure there are no surprises.”
“Good idea. “I’ll go in and secure Mr. Jobin.”
Kat headed towards the van first. She didn’t think there would be anyone else in it. From the size of Big Ugly, there hadn’t been room in the vehicle for too many other people. But she still needed to take a look.
The van was open, and, as she suspected, empty. The back of the van had been modified into a cage. It seemed Big Ugly was more monster than human. Aside from the disturbing cage, Kat found a cell phone in the driver’s console. Kat took the phone and headed towards the Explorer on the other end of the lane. She’d look closer at the phone once they safely taken Mr. Jobin to the trial.
When Kat got to the Explorer, she checked the vehicle, but it was empty. She checked the body of the dead werewolf and did a double take when she recognized who it was.
Hector, Vesper’s new love interest, had been part of the attack on the safe house. Had he been following her? Was sleeping with Vesper part of a bigger, more sinister plot, or had he done it to get into their home? Werewolves had highly enhanced senses of smell, and if he’d stolen an item of her clothing, he could’ve followed her scent from miles away. Kat cringed. She’d seen Hector that morning. The only way he’d stolen clothing from her was if it had been really small, like a sock or panties. The idea of some creep smelling her panties so he could track her down and to get to a witness was disturbing on several levels.
How do I tell Vesper? Kat thought to herself as she walked towards the safe house. “Hey, buddy. Just so you know, we had to kill your new boyfriend today. Sorry.” As she said the words aloud, Kat shook her head. She’d have to find a more tactful was of delivering the bad news, and try finding the right time.
“Everything good?” Thomas asked from the door of the safe house.
“No evidence of more bad guys. But not good. One of the werewolves was Hector, Vesper’s new boyfriend.”
Tho
mas frowned. “You think he was sleeping with her to get close to you two, or someone hired him because he was close?”
“I honestly don’t know. Hopefully, Lola finds out something about him that makes sense of this whole situation. In the meantime, let’s get Mr. Jobin to the trial.”
Thomas led a man in cuffs to the Suburban. He looked around at the carnage on the road. “Damn, you two did some damage. I didn’t think Beauty and the Beast could be killed.”
“Beauty and Beast?” Thomas asked as he placed Mr. Jobin into the backseat.
Mr. Jobin nodded towards the bodies of the mage and Big Ugly. “Those are Karsova’s enforcers. Mannix, the mage, we called the beast, and his pet the beauty.”
“A strange choice of nicknames, Mr. Jobin,” Kat said as she got into the Suburban.
“Jobin. Just call me Jobin, doll face.”
“It is Kat. Not doll face.”
Jobin made claws with his cuffed hands. “Meow. You’re a saucy kitty.”
Kat ignored the comment. “You were saying something about the Beauty and the Beast?”
“Yes. We called the monster beauty because he was a force of nature, beautiful in his raw destructive power. Mannix, on the other hand, was the Beast because of his proclivity to inflict pain. You know how a cat will stalk and toy with its prey before killing it? Well, Mannix was like that. He liked toying with his victims. Torture or anything that caused fear got him excited. The Beauty was a killing machine, but Mannix, or The Beast, was truly scary. When Karsova sent them after people, they prayed Beauty got to them first. At least with him you got a quick death.”
“You must be a popular guy if he sent them after you,” Kat said.
Jobin laughed. “It means I’m a dead man. Or it used to mean that. Who knows, if you two can kill the Beauty and the Beast, maybe you can protect me. I may have underestimated the MBI.”
“She killed those two, not me,” Thomas said.
Jobin stared at Kat as if seeing her for the first time. “You killed the Beauty and the Beast by yourself? Damn, girl. Where you been all my life? I’d be king with a woman like you in my life.”